Safety for sporting pellet or air guns

ABSTRACT

This invention refers to a new safety that is incorporated to a sporting pellet or air gun by which the accidental firing of the gun is prevented even when the gun is loaded, making it necessary to remove it in order to fire the gun.  
     The different means that make up this safety can be summarized as follows: it consists of a square bulky button with cut edges at the top that make it look like a trapezium in its cross-section view; it has grooves on the surface to hold and move it manually, and that on its lower face is curved having the correlative shape of the barrel, and also has a side bore where a peg that joins the base of the safety is introduced, such has a peg formed by a straight haft in a vertical position and slightly bigger that sticks out, this will be introduced within the eyelet where the safety runs and that only moves in one direction and returns to its original position; a base of the safety, placed under the safety that is a rectangular piece that acts as a cam to place the latch when the gun is loaded, from which a second piece also rectangular in shape sticks out, this has a side bore towards the top correlative to the bore in the latch, and this top peg also has a top cut and a spring that consists of a level live plate with an oval central bore, correlative to the peg in the latch so that it can be introduced by means of a flexion movement and that presses the latch keeping it pressed and fixed.  
     In general, this invention has its field of action in the universe of sporting pellet or air rifles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention refers to a new safety that has been greatlyimproved and that is incorporated towards the end of the mechanismchamber of the gun where the sight is generally placed. This safetymoves forward and returns to its original position and includes severalmeans that lock it within an eyelet on the barrel of the gun making itnecessary to unlock the safety manually in order to fire the gun,because the device is locked automatically when it is loaded.

[0003] These kinds of guns are used as a fun and sport article mainly byyoung boys and teenagers. Used as such, this invention contributes topreventing any possible accident caused by an unsuitable use of the gunor by trying to operate it inappropriately. Consequently, the scope forthe use of this invention is within the universe of sporting pellet orair guns.

[0004] 2. Description of Related Art

[0005] Several patents include the development of different types of gundevices; for example, the American Patents U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,164,646,1,509,257, 2,729,28, 3,465,741, and 3,839,999.

[0006] As it is widely known, there are many kinds of safeties for gunsthat have been referred to in several patents, among which the AmericanPatents U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,164,646, 1,509,257, 2,729,28, 3,465,741, and3,839,999 should be mentioned. We will briefly mention the followingconsiderations:

[0007] 1. U.S. Pat. No. 1,164,646 (Pop gun—Heyman and Arden) dated Dec.21, 1915 mentions a shooting mechanism for a sporting cork gun forchildren. The mechanism that is being proposed is different from thatpatent because, in the above mentioned patent the gun is not lockedwhile the invention herein includes a latch that is automatically lockedwhen the gun is loaded.

[0008] 2. U.S. Pat. No. 1,509,257 (Air Gun or Gun—Randall) dated Feb.26, 1926 lays claim to a spring mechanism for air guns. Although suchinvention preceded this proposal, it does not include a safety mechanismto prevent an accidental shot; in addition, it does not have any kind ofmechanism that prevents a shot when the cam is not in place, such beingthe case, the cam might trap the fingers when the gun is shot.

[0009] 3. U.S. Pat. No. 2,729,208 (Popgun—Gaeke) dated Sep. 11, 1953protects an air blast gun whose mechanism produces a sound similar tothat of a real gun. On the other hand, the cam blocks the shootingmechanism but not the trigger directly.

[0010] 4. U.S. Pat. No. 2, 837,837,865 (Popgun construction—Wells) datedJun. 10, 1958 lays claim to a mechanism that consists of a valve throughwhich a blast for toy popguns is produced.

[0011] 5. U.S. Pat. No. 3,465,741 (Popgun with extended barrel forprotecting puff of air—Daniel et al) dated Jun. 15, 1965 refers to amechanism that produces a blast for an air gun by means of a valve.Therefore, this invention is very different from the proposal, and eventhough the same or similar means might exist, the arrangement of such istotally different.

[0012] 6. U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,999 (Gun with safety member mountedtherein—Fleming) protects a side latch activated by several strengthcams. The invention proposed is different due to the fact that it refersto a button that works directly without any cams.

[0013] The last invention which has an auxiliary safety not included,the others have none to protect the gun when loaded.

[0014] It has also been observed that in some cases lack of knowledge ofthe mechanism of the gun has caused some minor injuries on the users,especially on their hands and fingers. This is due to excessiveconfidence and to trying to discover what might happen when the gun isin a different position to that which is considered normal.

[0015] Talking specifically about the sporting pellet gun with areloading cam below the trigger, it can be said that there has been noimprovement to date, and that it has only undergone slight modificationsas regards its internal mechanism.

[0016] Consequently, in accordance with this background and to the bestof my knowledge, there is no close invention to that being proposed,thus the implemented improvements originate a new invention.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0017] The main objective of this invention is to prevent the user fromhaving an accident should the safety be moved inadvertently when the gunis already loaded and ready for shooting.

[0018] Another objective of this invention is to have an external safetyfor the sporting pellet gun with safety mechanisms that prevent it frombeing unlocked inadvertently and thus minimize accidents caused by wronghandling or lack of knowledge.

[0019] The third objective of this invention is to avoid the safety frombeing unlocked even if the gun is dropped and it lands on the safetyitself.

[0020] This external safety fully complies with all the regulations andsafety standards set by the authorities in Mexico as well as by foreignauthorities, mainly in the United States.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The characteristics of this safety for sporting pellet guns areclearly shown in the description that follows and in the attacheddrawings that illustrate such description. The same reference signsrepresent the same parts in the drawings.

[0022]FIG. 1 is a side view of the safety base of the gun;

[0023]FIG. 2 is a front view of the safety base of the gun;

[0024]FIG. 3 is a top view of the safety base of the gun;

[0025]FIG. 5 is a side view of the safety spring of the gun;

[0026] FIGS. 6 to 10 are a cross-section view, a top view, a side view,a front view, and a conventional perspective of the safety of the gun;

[0027]FIG. 11 is a cross-section of the mechanism of the sporting gun inan unloaded position that shows the position of the safety of the gun;

[0028]FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 show a sequence of the movement of the loadingcam; FIG. 12 highlights the initial operations; FIG. 13, the loadingaction with the movement of the piston; and FIG. 14, loading completionwith the total movement of the piston and the placement of the triggersafety.

[0029]FIG. 15 is another cross-section view of the gun that shows theposition of the locked safety when the gun is loaded and ready to shoot.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0030] This invention refers to a safety for a sporting air or pelletgun by which a safe operation of such is guaranteed avoiding accidentscaused by an inappropriate use of the gun when handled by young boys andteenagers.

[0031] Referring to the above mentioned figures, the gun with a safetyherein consists of a barrel 70 at the front through which the bullet orpellet will be shot, followed by a mechanism chamber where the firingmechanism is located, and by the buff that is used as support whenfiring.

[0032] Towards the end of the mechanism chamber, where it joins thebutt, there is a safety 30 at the top that is leaned forwards and has arocking movement and that consists of a square bulky button with cutedges at the top that make it look like a trapezium in its cross-sectionview; it has grooves on the surface to hold and move it manually; and italso has a small chamber where the spring 20 is placed, there is also aside bore 36 through which a bolt which is attached to a latch 10 isintroduced, and that together with the bolt 30 prevents the gun frombeing fired even when it has been already loaded. This bolt 30 has a peg38 that consists of a slightly longer vertical straight shaft so that itjuts out; this peg 38 will go into an eyelet where the bolt 30 runs,placed externally on the side where the sight is generally located andthe bolt 30, moves forward releasing the peg 38 from the eyelet andreturning it to its initial position.

[0033] Under the bolt 30, its base 10 is located; this consists of arectangular shaped piece that acts as a cam to lock the bolt 30 whenloading the gun; from the base of the latch 10 a second slightly smallerrectangular piece 12 with an oval base sticks out, this is the upper peg12 that has a side bore towards the top placed correlatively to the bore36 on the bolt 30, and this upper peg 12 features an upper cut 14 thatallows the bolt 30 to run forwards with a tilted movement and thus placethe peg 38 in the eyelet, making it necessary to press the bolt 30lightly so that it moves forwards.

[0034] A spring 20 that consists of a live sheet with an oval centralbore correlative to the peg in the bolt 30, so that it can be placedwithin the safety chamber; the spring slightly bent on one of its endsin order to have movement presses the safety, tilts it forward andallows a rocking movement, thus it is necessary to press the bolt 30 atthe rear end to release the peg 38 from the eyelet or track on themechanism chamber in order to move forwards.

[0035] Towards the middle of the mechanism chamber, there is anelongated cocking cam 72 that towards the rear has an eyelet 74. Thiscocking cam 72 is then placed on a groove at the bottom of the butt in aresting position, this acts as a grabbing point to start the cockingoperation of the gun 70. The cocking cam 72 is supported by an axialbolt 76 by which the cocking cam 72 is rotated. This cam also has asecond eyelet 78 below the trigger 40 arranged in such a way as to allowthe finger in to fire a shot. Above the axial bolt 76 there is acrescent shaped means, part of the cam 72 itself, that is arranged insuch a way that when the cam 72 is rotated for cocking, covers thetrigger 40, thus preventing the undue placement of the finger whencocking, and even in the event the gun is loaded, does not allow a shotto be fired because the cocking cam is placed in an open position or insuch a position that is not the actual resting position. Lastly, thecocking cam 72 is thrust towards the end by means of a pusher 42 havingthe shape of a hook that acts as guide and drive of the piston 60. Italso has a small spring retaining cam towards the rear that rests over apawl 84 that consists of a bolt placed inside the barrel 70 that locksand secures the cocking cam 72.

[0036] A piston 60, located inside the barrel 70, cylindrical in shapewith an internal groove (not shown), along which the pusher 82 moves androtates; a spring 62 coils the stem of the piston 60 and such spring iscompressed when the gun is prepared for shooting, this corresponds tothe backward position of the piston 60. The end of the piston 60 that isnot shown in the drawing has a gasket (not shown either), while at theother end there is a rectangular plate 64 called piston retaining platethat pushes a retention cam 50 as well as the base 62 of a latch 60along the guide of the pusher 82.

[0037] The trigger 40 is formed by a channel shaped plate, with aslightly curved elongated portion that forms the trigger itself wherethe finger is placed in order to fire the gun. This trigger, shaped asan L, projects towards the inside of the gun and is locked by means of apusher 42 that is followed by a second elongated portion whose ends formthe support legs 44 of the safety. So, once the gun has been loaded 10,the safety 60 operates automatically, the support legs 44 are then underthe base of the safety 62, therefore, the trigger cannot be operated andconsequently the gun cannot be shot.

[0038] The retention cam 50 consisting of a U shaped plate, with a boreat one end, is placed inside the channel of the barrel 70, and is lockedby means of the pusher 42. At the other end of the cam there is a spring52 that moves the cam in such a way that one of the ends is not coveredso that when it touches the plate or stopper of the piston 64, thismoves downwards to then return and secure the stem of the piston 60 asif it were the bolt in a lock.

[0039] In order to clarify the operation of the mechanism describedabove, a series of drawings with the corresponding numbers are included.

[0040] Let us consider that the gun 70 is unloaded (FIG. 11). The pistonis located towards the front and all the other pieces are at rest.

[0041] The beginning of the loading process starts by articulating theloading cam 72 so that the pusher 82 is introduced through the pistongroove 60 (not shown) placing the tip of the pusher over the plate orstopper of the piston 64. The spring 62 that covers the piston begins tocontract. At the same time, the crescent piece 80 of the loading cam 72stands in the way of the trigger 40 not allowing the introduction of afinger.

[0042] The loading action (FIG. 13) is completed when the, plate 64hauled by the pusher 82 jumps over the retention plate 50 operating thespring 52 to then return locking the stem of the piston 60 as if it werea door lock. Likewise, the plate 64 will touch the base of the latch 10making it move backwards and locking the bolt 30 automatically. At thesame time, the hook of the pusher 82 slightly moves the trigger 40, andthus the elongated portion that forms the support legs of the safety 44will be placed under the base of the latch 10 not allowing the triggerto operate and thus not firing the gun.

[0043] The operation is concluded (FIG. 14) when the loading cam 72 isreturned to its original position in which the piston spring 62 remainspressed and the piston 60 is slightly displaced forwards.

[0044] Once the loading cam 72 gets to its original position, theretaining cam of the crescent spring located towards the back of thepusher 82 is adjusted with the pawl 84 producing a sound that means thatthe loading cam 72 is ready to shoot (FIG. 15).

[0045] In order to shoot, it will be necessary to push the safety 30towards the front, and thus the support legs of the latch 10 will bereleased.

[0046] Pushing the trigger 40, the piston will move forwards shooting apellet, the spring of the piston 62 will uncoil again as shown on FIG.11.

[0047] While the latch 10 is operated the gun will by no means fire evenwhen the trigger 40 is pushed. The gun will not fire either when theloading preparation cam 72 is displaced from its original position evenwhen loaded because the crescent piece 80 will be located in front ofthe trigger 40.

I claim:
 1. Improved safety for sporting pellet or air rifles, thatrefers to a novelty safety incorporated to a sporting pellet or air gunoperated with conventional pellets, and that includes the combination ofa barrel at the front, through which the pellet under pressure will befired, followed by the mechanism box, where all the means to operate andshoot the gun are found, and a butt that is rested on the body in orderto shoot, and that in addition includes an external safety placedtowards the top of the mechanism box where it joins the butt and has theproperty of being leaned forwards and has a characteristic rockingmovement because: a) This safety, that consists of a square bulky buttonwith cut edges on top that make it look like a trapezium in itscross-section view, has grooves on the surface to hold and move itmanually, at the bottom it is slightly curved to fit the correlativecurve in the mechanism chamber where it is located; it also includes aslightly longer vertical peg that juts out and that will be introducedin an eyelet located over the mechanism chamber where the safety runs,it also has a small box where the spring is placed and where there is abore on the side where the latch is introduced and that joins the baseof the safety, this piece together with the bulky button are the meansthat prevent the gun from being fired even when loaded: b) Under thesafety, there is a base that consists of a rectangular shaped piece thatacts as a cam to lock the safety when the gun is loaded, and from whoseupper face a second smaller rectangular piece with an oval base sticksout, that is the upper peg that has a side bore towards the top placedcorrelatively to the bore on the safety thus joining the two pieces.This peg also includes an upper cut tilted forwards, in such a way thatthe top safety will normally be inclined forwards, and thus its peg willbe placed within the eyelet of the mechanism chamber, and it will benecessary to push the rear end of the safety in order to remove the pegfrom the eyelet and move the safety towards the front. c) A spring thatconsists of a live sheet with an oval central bore correlative to thepeg in the safety, so that it can be placed within the safety chamberthat is slightly bent on one of its ends in order to have, so that witha flexion movement it can press the bolt and tilt it forwards. 2.Improved safety for sporting pellet or air guns claimed in accordancewith paragraph one, in addition, characterized because the spring of thetilted safety presses the bolt towards the front and has a rockingmovement making it necessary to press the safety on the rear to removethe peg that is placed within the eyelet or track of the mechanism boxto move the bolt and free it.